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 Champions Of Nature Interview
interview 0084 added 28.09.01 words Kobi
You join us on a cool September evening. The streets are deserted ‘cos everyone except me is in a pub watching the footie. The ante is now definitely up as Sven’s boys’ 5-1 spanking of the Germans is still
fresh in the nation’s collective memory. Come to think of it, all our sports teams seem to be producing the goods these days. The rugby boys are sweeping all before them, and the cricket team are now
getting away with just being metaphorically raped as opposed to being gang-banged by every other team in the world. Isn’t it time that British hip hop, after
years of being the perennial struggler finally notched up a few wins? Well here are six reasons that the tide may
soon start turning for b-person britannicus. Ladies and gentleman, they are the Champions…
(Only Supa T and Apollo were present at the interview as everyone else was working a day J.O.B. Oh, to be the Jiggaman…)
First of all, where are you from and how did you meet? Nowadays, the thing to do seems to be start of as a group and then have members spinning off and doing their own thing.
Supa-T: Well we’re both from London, northwest London.
Apollo: Actually we’re from all over. We all lived just round the corner from each other in Camberwell and that’s how we got together. We just decided to do something amongst ourselves.
Where are Lewis, Jehst, AM and L-Dolo then?
Apollo: Yeah, they’re working man, heheheh. I’ve just finished.
Supa-T: They’re probably down the pub watching the football, right now (A potential sore point. As I walked into the interview room Apollo had been desperately trying to get long wave out of the plush looking sound system in the corner)
T, yourself, Dolo, AM and Lewis all used to be closely linked, if not signed to Lowlife. What happened with that?
Apollo chuckles wryly at this point.
Supa-T: It was one of those things y’know. Politics takes a hold and that’s it. Anything is not just one person’s story…
Apollo, you have hosted Dekefex (At Brixton’s Mass), what do you prefer hosting or rhyming?
Apollo: Oh, rhyming definitely. I do everything though I produce and everything in fact the only thing I don’t do is graf…
Supa-T: Yeah man, but things can change…
Apollo: Yeah, arrangements can be made hehehe. In fact Dekefex is kicking off in October again. This time round there will be less of an emphasis on live performance and more focus on the deejays and that side of things.
Fair enough, man. There was always a constant stream of emcees coming on and off the stage. It was a bit like entertainment overload. So, if you found one of your tracks bootlegged on the Internet would you feel cheated or would you be happy that your music is getting wider exposure?
Apollo: Oooh, that’s tough…
(After a conferring glance)
Apollo: A bit of both
Supa-T: Yeah a bit of both. Actually on Salsa Smurf I’ve got this one line that goes “Get your boys out and don’t dub it”. So I don’t really know. Obviously it’s good if people do go out and buy it. The label would definitely prefer it you went out and bought it….
So what is the deal with Wordplay. All you other releases (The Fuckoff Song and Finalisation) were on white label. Is this a long-term thing then?
Apollo: We just licensed the one track, Salsa Smurf to them. We actually knew David (Wordplay’s big cheese) from this radio show he used to do. He asked us to do a track for the Wordlab 2 album and his favourite tune just happened to be Salsa Smurf.
Lewis had the Options EP out on white label a little while ago. Is it gonna get a proper release and what’s he doing on the solo tip at the moment?
Supa-T: That was just a promotional EP. He should be sorting something out with that though. He is still on Melankolic (Massive Attack’s label, distributed through Virgin Records)
Are there any plans for more releases from the C.O.N artists?
Supa-T: Yeah, we’ve got a three track EP coming out soon. There’s a track called ‘Ole’, which has got L-Dolo production and AM and Apollo rhyming on that. There’s ‘The Rat’ which is another L-Dolo tune, which has Apollo on the hook. The third tune is called “There’s No Reason” which is Apollo’s production debut….
Apollo: No it’s not. It’s another hit from the hit maker. Yeah it’s got Jehst and Supa-T on it. Production is another one of my things…
Supa-T: Yeah, he’s the Pete Waterman of hip hop, hehehe….
Okay, a break from the music. Out of anyone dead or alive, which two people would you have over for dinner?
Supa-T: Good question, I think I’ll have to say the guy from this book I’m reading. No actually both of them. I’ve been reading this book by Carlos Castaneda about Mexican sorcery. The guys from that book, yeah, Don Juan, who was a Yacqui Indian shaman and Don Janarro. I’d cook ‘em some rice and fish.
Apollo: I’ve just started reading the autobiography of Jacko Pastarius. So it would have to be him and Marvin Gaye. Jacko Pastarius was a bassist with this band in the seventies. He was crazy, man. He had double-jointed thumbs. He played wicked slap bass.
At this point Lucy the lenslady proceeds to show the C.O.N Artists how far she can bend her thumbs back. For a few seconds the room falls silent in awe of the rogue body parts…
So… Being champions, have either of you ever won anything?
Apollo: I won the beanbag race at primary school. I used to have an afro at school so it fitted perfectly
Quality man. I used to win that race as well. It was the hair. All year round the other kids gave me grief for the wack haircut and NHS style glasses frames but for that one day…
Supa-T: I won a couple of spelling competitions and the egg and spoon race. That’s it really.
Apollo: Last year I won a prize for being best golfer in the company (Cue laughter from T) Seriously I even got a little trophy and everything.
Alright then, Back on Planet hip-hop there’s a rumour flying around that the Mud Family put your name on a flyer for a jam that wasn’t gonna happen just so they could get the turnout for a video shoot. Say it ain’t so..
Apollo: As far as that goes. No-one had spoken to us. I did see some flyer but I had other things to do on that day
Supa-T: Yeah, none of us had actually agreed to attend. Why has there been tension?…
Nah man, not that I know of, I just wanted to know if there was any truth to the story that’s all. Anyway, still on the subject of videos what made you choose the style for Salsa Smurf (For those who haven’t seen the flick yet it’s based around a support group with the 7 members transforming from Salsa-less invalids to fresh emcees kicking rhymes in their London locality.)
Apollo: It was just cheaper than the run-of-the-mill thing. We had a budget so we had to be creative. There’s not a lot of us that stick to the car/money/girls formula. What you’re seeing in the video, that’s just us.
So do you think we’re any closer to the point where people can actually make a living out of British hip-hop?
Apollo: Oh yeah, they’re people out there doing it now. It’s not just the records. There are other avenues you can go down
Supa T: At the end of the day you get what you get out of it. I’m not making a huge amount of money right now, a lot of money goes into making a first album. We’re all capable people, we all work. A label would have to secure a lot of things before things like that happen…
Is there anyone in particular you’d like to work with?
Supa T: Yeah, it would be safe to do something in the future. No all star collaborations just for the sake of it though.
Apollo: It would probably be with people that we know very well though. I know Roots Manuva well, just from seeing him about and doing gigs. Just because he’s doing well for himself doesn’t mean we have to do a tune together.
Supa T: It’s not something we’re thinking about right now but we wouldn’t rule it out in the future.
Fair enough. The million dollar question now. Is this going to be the year that the UK scene takes off?
Apollo: Every year they say it’s taking off. Regardless of whether it’s commercially successful the scene will always be there
Supa T: There’s still not that people selling a lot of records though…
Apollo: We don’t sell tunes at 99p the week before they come out to push the sales up though. We put in what money we can ourselves and we at least want to make that back. We put out the tune for a set price but the audience is getting bigger every year.
Supa T: A lot more kids are into hip-hop over here now, more than ever
Apollo: A lot more kids are buying decks now instead of buying computers. On Top of The Pops you see the DJ with the groups and he’s just twiddling knobs. Maybe he’s checking the sound levels though…
Supa T: As far as kids rhyming there’s people like Reveal who’s only 17 years old and Scribbla who’s working with us and he’s like 18 years old…
Apollo: You’ve got so many groups out there as well now. It’s not just about London anymore. There’s groups in Birmingham, Bristol, Nottingham, Wales, Scotland and all those far off places now as well.
Who would play both of you in UK hip-hop: the movie?
Supa T: Erm, I think it would have to be Gene Wilder…
Around the time of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?
Supa T: Nah, circa Stir Crazy, definitely.
Apollo: I’m gonna have to say David Hasselhoff (Cue laughter from T and Apollo)
Erm, any reason why?
Apollo: Yeah because I’m the black David Hasselhoff…
Lastly have either of you ever conned anyone?
Apollo: Loads of times. I’m from South London. Everyone’s always doing something round there.
Supa T: I’ve conned people but not as many as him
Apollo: Yeah I’m a pro, but I’m trying to give up hehehe…
Supa T: Everyone’s had scams. Yeah, even you and you…
Apollo: (To Lucy the lenslady) Yeah I bet you use your thumbs to beat everyone at Playstation…
And the whistle goes for full time. The pub going masses are engrossed in the second half of the England-Albania match and the two Champions present are itching to join them. With shouts of “TO CAMBERWELL” they wheelspin off in Apollo’s nondescript black hatchback. You can’t help but share their cautious optimism for the scene. After the false dawns of the past few years, it looks like we could come at winners for once. In Lewis Parker’s words “Nature doesn’t lose”. And they’ve got sights firmly set on filling up that silverware cabinet…
Thanks, peace ,blessings and tokens for an hour of Kobi love go to Serena and all at waytoblue, Smiffy and Kate and everyone else who contributed question (I don’t know your names but you do), Lucy, Tom at work for the loan of the dictaphone and those crafty C.O.N artists for making my first ever interview as painless as humanly possible.
'Salsa Smurf' b/w 'Jazzy Styles' is out now on Wordplay and also on the Wordlab 2 compilation.
 
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